Minnesota Wild Situation To Impact Montreal Canadiens Draft Ranks

The Montreal Canadiens will have some of their draft picks move back a spot as of the 2nd round due to a situation between the Minnesota Wild and their former 1st round pick.

The Wild selected Filip Johansson 24th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft and could not come to terms with him on an entry-level contract. According to the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team who fails to sign their 1st round pick is offered compensation in the form of a draft pick that directly impacts the order of the Draft.

According to Article 8.3(b) of the NHL’s CBA, the Wild, who failed to sign 2018 1st round pick Johansson, will now receive a compensatory 2nd round pick. That pick will land at the 56th overall rank, which is exactly 32 spots removed from where the original selection was made. Here is the full rule below:

“In the event a Club loses its draft rights to an Unsigned Draft Choice drafted in the 1st round of the Entry Draft (except as a result of failing to tender a required Bona Fide Offer (as defined below)), who (i) is again eligible for the Entry Draft, (ii) becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent, or (iii) dies, a Compensatory Draft Selection shall automatically be granted to that Club, which Compensatory Draft Selection shall be the same numerical choice in the second round in the Entry Draft immediately following the date the Club loses such rights. By way of example, if a Club cannot sign the third pick in the first round, it will receive the third pick in the second round as compensation.”

This means that there will now be 33 picks in the 2022 NHL Draft’s 2nd round, from 33rd overall to 65th overall. The last time such an occurrence took place, it was at the 2016 NHL Draft, where the Arizona Coyotes received a compensatory 2nd round pick after former 2014 1st rounder, Conner Bleackley wasn’t signed in the summer of 2016.

How does this affect the Montreal Canadiens?

The Montreal Canadiens’ first three picks in the 2022 NHL Draft are now set in stone at 1st overall, 26th overall and 33rd overall. However, every subsequent selection that the Montreal Canadiens own will now be bumped down one spot due to the addition of a 33rd selection in the 2nd round of the 2022 NHL Draft.

For example, should the Edmonton Oilers fail to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, their 2nd round pick would go to Montreal thanks to the Brett Kulak trade. If the Oilers do fall to the Colorado Avalanche, that 2nd round pick would have landed at 61st overall, but would now land at 62nd overall due to Minnesota’s compensatory pick bumping every selection down a peg.

Montreal’s own 3rd round pick, was originally slated to land at 65th overall, will now drop to 66th overall, and the rest of the selections in the 2022 NHL Draft will follow the same trend.

NB: The Montreal Canadiens relinquished the rights to 2018 2nd round pick Jacob Olofsson on Wednesday, but will not receive a compensatory pick as he was not a 1st round selection.